To Everyone: HOW DARE YOU!

The May 2013 midterm elections is fast approaching. Without a doubt, it will come and shake us. Our daily existence will soon be disrupted. We might never even remember ourselves once it’s over.

As the day of reckoning draws near, everyone becomes less and less human and humane. Everyone’s eager to get something out of that bloody field. Everyone wants a piece of that moldy cake. Everyone wants to shoot dirt at each other’s faces. But here’s what I have say to all of you who have already thrown dignity and integrity out the window in favor of money, power, appearance, comfort and hypocrisy:

HOW DARE YOU!

I repeat. HOW DARE YOU!

To the Politicians:

How dare you say the same things over and over again! It baffles me how common phrases of conceit and false promises can still manipulate the hearts and minds of voters – and win seats to boot!

How dare you gloss over your qualities and deceive ignorant and naive Filipino citizens! Is poking fun at and twisting the perception of the masses such an enjoyable hobby?

How dare you augment your personalities in obvious and tacky ways! Reenacted biographies at famed TV drama anthologies, books exposing corruption and whatnot, advertisements using children, old folks, supposedly marginizalized women and famous actors – who has not met these, ugh… “strategies”?

How dare you use the media, an important information and communication tool, to spread unforgiveable lies!

How dare you pretend to create so-called platforms just to inflate your “public facade”! Yet once you’re voted up there, you guys do nothing but bicker and rip each other’s masks off like there’s no tomorrow!

How dare you pretend to help the needy when behind our backs you calculate how much ROI winning an election gives you!

How dare you use thousands and millions worth of taxes to fuel your selfish political ambitions! How you misuse and abuse our hard-earned money to glue you in positions of power irritates the core of my being! Just so you know, those of us in the city hardly need roads, bridges, and flyovers! This is what we want: we want our public schools, public libraries, and public hospitals and maternity houses properly funded. Those of us in the provinces need stable sources of income, and new technologies and strategies that will increase the yield of our crops.

How dare you create harmful laws that have no other purpose but to make you appear useful and efficient! Go on and make all those laws until our moral capital is completely drained! Once it’s drained, let me just extend my advance congratulations for ruining the future of this Country!

How dare you condemn faith and religion to earn the sympathy of the public – only to seek priests, pastors and big shot leaders of religious organizations whenever election strikes!When well-established and well-functioning systems put your malicious ambitions at bay, you do your best to infect them, thus producing nearly incurable cultural diseases!

How dare you enter political parties only to abandon them when your self-interests are not addressed! Because of you political turncoats and butterflies, not in a million years can the politics-is-dirty mindset be erased. Can it not?

How dare you ruin the very image of Politics that many political scientists have worked so hard to define and understand! Democracy and public trust are words you should never speak of! Hardly anyone of you is reliable enough to utter them!

Most of all…

How dare you allow us to lose faith in the Government, in Politics, and in our Country! Many Filipinos no longer have the stamina to endure all the antics and falsehood. We are almost at our limit.

HOW DARE YOU… HOW DARE YOU… HOW DARE YOU…

To the Media:

How dare you become an engine of misinformation! You, who hold so much data, whom we rely on when we need enlightenment and further education, are the very vehicle that carries out every form of deceit and lies. It is hard to trust you these days!

How dare you favor Politicians and tweak the perception of voters! So often have you set the agenda for us. Sadly, many people nowadays do not understand the line between actual and manipulated reality. But no! No one can stop you once you frame an issue or a person, and then project it to us hapless voters, unknowingly or much against our will!

Oh, how dare you extract money from sheer falsehood and exaggeration! The use of media has become so exorbitant that Politicians would do anything just to expose themselves through you – even if that means stealing people’s money.

HOW DARE YOU… HOW DARE YOU… HOW DARE YOU…

To Religions and Religious Organizations:

How dare you support candidates without first assessing their credibility! I know some of you have the nerve to tell your flocks whom to vote or not to vote for. The faithful have minds of their own. You can enlighten them with information you know and in accordance with the values our Redeemer has taught us. But never ever tell them what to do or coerce them by threatening them with excommunication or the wrath of God! Is it not enough to just pray for their enlightenment?

How dare you speak of God’s words while you condemn others as harlots and whores, while you accuse other religions of idolatry or paganism, or while you inflate the importance of your own religion or congregation over others! This kind of hypocrisy is what turns people off, pushing them to side with stupid laws over religions and religious congregations’ misplaced and hypocritical self-righteousness! Can God even dwell in religions and congregations that do nothing but condemn? Hypocrisy is the last thing we need this May 13, 2013. Such hypocrisy can do no good for our immature society!

HOW DARE YOU… HOW DARE YOU… HOW DARE YOU…

To the Citizens of the Philippines:

How dare you vote the same faces over and over again only to complain when your needs aren’t met! Wake up people! It is about time you realize that the Politicians you vote for are not your “saviors”! No one can save you but yourself! If you want to live in this world, pluck up some inner strength!

How dare you complain about the injustices done to you by ruthless Politicians when in the first place you so easily sell your votes to them! Do not complain. We have these kinds of candidates because we have these set of voters. The moment you sold your votes, you forfeited your right to complain against the Government and the Politicians who are currently living there.

How dare you complain about all things political when you do nothing! Before you complain, why don’t you quit gambling, smoking, drinking, idle gossiping, and staring at space? Complaining when you don’t even give a damn about social issues, when you only watch from the sidelines, when you fear getting involved… I daresay you people are hypocrites! Do your share first. Then and only then can you complain!

How dare you get swayed by personalities! So what if they’re related to so and so? Will his or her pretty face end your impoverished condition? Will his or her fame put you in the limelight too? Come on people… think! However famous, however beautiful, however well connected – these qualities are not even worth mentioning. During elections, only platform matters! Look at the candidate whose platforms of government are likely to improve quality of life for the majority. Get over the superficial. You guys can do better than that!

How dare you complain when you have never voted in your lifetime! If you’re in the right age, then vote, I tell you! If you wish to assume indifference, then by all means shut your mouth when new laws and policies affect you! Shut your mouth when a candidate misuses the money earned from your own sweat and blood! By not voting, you also forfeit your right to hold candidates accountable or to ask of them what is due to you.

How dare you, to alleviate poverty, join leftist and rightist groups without actually knowing their principles! In your quest for justice, you reduce yourselves to common criminals who believe they are better than other criminals simply because their advocacy is for their own twisted view of democracy and the common good. But I’ve got news for you: the most ideal form of democracy is centrist democracy, a communicative form of democracy that seeks to give each side a stake in the decision-making process and where each side has the corresponding duty to meet the other parties half-way. At the heart of centrist democracies is human dignity and capability building that neither left nor right have considered! Only at the center can you achieve the balance destroyed by left-wing and right-wing groups whose methods border on the criminal and are mostly riddled with bloodshed!

And lastly…

How dare you lose faith in our Country and in our Government without trying!

Did you go out there to lecture the masses on election rules, regulations and ethics? Did you ever harbor hope that THERE is hope for everyone in the Philippines? Did you, in your own way, try to make a difference in your region, in your community, in your family, in your circle of friends, in your school, in your church? Did you exhaust all means afforded to you just so you can make a difference? If you did not, then you have no damn right to lose faith! Get out there and do what you can, damn it! Only lose faith when life runs out!

About X-Tin Gabs

I am an idealist. I seek for the unheard of and revel in humanity's uncommon imperfections. I write because there is something to tell the world. Such an exertion, I think, is giving me a proper purpose here on earth. I am open to all comments, suggestions, violent reactions and curses.
To each his own.